Ethic Inc. Increases Stake in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Ethic Inc. grew its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 72,456 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,141 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 177,747,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,155,601,000 after buying an additional 448,554 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in AbbVie by 17.0% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,044,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,888,000 after acquiring an additional 151,644 shares during the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 25.5% in the third quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 401,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,024,000 after acquiring an additional 81,625 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 10.5% in the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 55,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,885,000 after acquiring an additional 5,302 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 32,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,484,000 after purchasing an additional 5,427 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Berenberg Bank set a $275.00 price target on AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $270.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of AbbVie from $299.00 to $294.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.90.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE ABBV opened at $201.24 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $176.57 and a 52 week high of $244.81. The company has a market capitalization of $355.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $213.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.00.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 911.57% and a net margin of 5.79%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a $1.73 dividend. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 340.89%.

Key Headlines Impacting AbbVie

Here are the key news stories impacting AbbVie this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie continued to draw bullish attention after reporting strong first-quarter results, with revenue and earnings coming in ahead of expectations and showing that growth is extending beyond Humira into newer drugs like Skyrizi and Rinvoq. AbbVie Delivers Strong Q1 Earnings Beyond Humira. This Dividend King Still Shines.
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie completed an early safety study for ABBV-142, which may improve investor confidence in the company’s pipeline and future oncology growth prospects. AbbVie Completes Early Safety Study for ABBV-142, Nudging Pipeline Hopes Higher
• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie and adMare BioInnovations named RIME Therapeutics as a Biotech Innovators Award winner, reinforcing AbbVie’s efforts to support early-stage biotech innovation and build optionality around its pipeline ecosystem. AbbVie (ABBV), adMare BioInnovations Name RIME Therapeutics as Biotech Innovators Award Winner
• Positive Sentiment: Skyrizi ranked ahead of J&J’s Tremfya in April drug ad spending, signaling continued competitive momentum and heavy marketing support for one of AbbVie’s key growth brands. AbbVie’s Skyrizi beats out J&J’s Tremfya in April drug ad spending leaderboard
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary and Q1 earnings-call recaps highlighted ongoing interest in AbbVie’s post-Humira growth strategy, but these pieces were mostly interpretive rather than new market-moving disclosures. 5 must-read analyst questions from AbbVie’s Q1 earnings call
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage on SKYRIZI expansion and reimbursement progress in Canada suggests continued international adoption, but the article framed these as part of an already constructive longer-term thesis rather than a single new catalyst. Does Strong Q1 Results And SKYRIZI Expansion Reshape The Bull Case For AbbVie (ABBV)?
• Negative Sentiment: One relative headwind is that ABBV shares have recently traded below key moving averages, reflecting some investor caution even as fundamentals remain solid.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $5,147,630.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,137 shares in the company, valued at $8,771,510. This trade represents a 36.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total transaction of $1,221,518.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,868.24. This trade represents a 66.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.